How to Build a Catfish Farm

Starting a farm to raise catfish can be expensive. However, if you want to start a small farm with a low budget, it is possible. Catfish farming is a business, but can also be an agricultural practice that will help the ecosystem by preventing the depletion of wild catfish. You need to learn everything you can about catfish before you attempt to raise and breed them, since you want to raise healthy fish for human consumption.

Things You'll Need

• Bulldozer or other excavating equipment
• Fish
• Commercial catfish food
• Nets

Instructions

1. Research fish farming markets in your area. Write out a business plan that outlines your farming business in order to secure loans and pitch your business to local restaurants.

2. Dig a large 3 to 5 acre pond to start breeding young catfish (fingerlings). You need more than 6 feet of pond depth for the fish to grow.

3. Buy 1,000 to 1,500 fingerlings and place them into your new pond. Buy from fish breeding farms that sell young fish in wholesale amounts, often online. The best time to do this is in October, unless you are only planning to farm during the summer, in which case put the fingerlings in around April.

4. Feed the fingerlings commercial catfish food three times a week at a rate of 1 lb. of fish food for every hundred pounds of fish. You can train them to go to one area during feedings if you give them food at the same location of the pond. Do not feed catfish if the pond is frozen over. Feed the catfish every day in late afternoon during the hot summer months. Pellets make a good choice because you will be able to see how much they are eating.

5. Harvest the fish when they are fully grown by casting a wide net and keeping the pond water level low through draining methods. Channel catfish are ready for harvesting when they weigh one pound, which takes between 18 months to two years.

Tips & Warnings

• Building a catfish farm is risky because the fish may fall victim to disease or your pond water may become polluted, killing your fish.

References

• Planet Catfish
• UKY: Catfish Farming
• National Science Foundation: All Catfish Species Inventory

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish
• Dunn's Fish Farm